Posted on 06/11/2013 10:15:00 PM PDT by Stoat
Citi Bike’s solar-powered docking stations don’t always get enough electricity on cloudy days — a glitch that makes returning the bikes infuriating, riders say.
Bike share users — who for weeks have had trouble locking bikes into docks — say the malfunction occurs most on overcast days, when stations are not fully charged.
“It’s a joke — they’re solar-powered so they’re basically dead half the time….It’s worse when it’s cloudy or when the dock is under a tall building,”
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Lengthy waits to receive bike keys and poor customer service are also part of the problem, riders say.
A spokesman for the Department of Transportation noted cyclists are simply getting used to a new system.
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(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Sunless days in NYC affecting the operation of a solar powered system? This could never have been forseen.
These bikes are a JOKE. Take them off the streets now.
Are these electric or electric-assist bikes? If not, why do the docking stations need solar power?
I'm guessing that electricity is required to operate the bicycle locking system and the automated rental / money acceptance system.
This could never have been forseen. Blame the riders! ;-)
Just ANOTHER of Bonehead Bloomberg’s horrific wastes of taxpayer monies. Let’s not forget CityTime, vast amounts of money spent on Bored of Ed computer software that doesn’t work or doesn’t communicate with other softwares, essential traffic lanes removed to make room for BIKE lanes that absolutely NO ONE uses (resulting in markedly increased commute times for drivers), etc. etc. The minute I heard of this City Bike plan, I knew it wouldn’t work. It would out-cute itself, just as it has. Solar powered docks, oh aren’t we sooo green, just pat us on the head wouldya? Oh heck, some nasty people are stealing and vandalizing the bikes. Must be Tea Party people, right? They don’t want to see a GREEN project succeed, that’s it. Uh, whaddya mean those solar things don’t work when there is no sun? As in a city of tall skyscrapers blocking it? Um...
Liberal Engineer...”Let’s see, where should we put the docking station? I know! In the shadow of a tall building. That should work.”
It looks like an electric-assist bike, but it's just a very basic three-speed.
Do I have to solce all NYNY's problems?
“A spokesman for the Department of Transportation noted cyclists are simply getting used to a new system.”
NYC screwed up. Get used to it.
As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.
I wonder how often Bloomberg rides one of these....
They’ll keep the solar panels there, but quietly drag a couple of 120 V lines over also, in the dead of night. The panels are required to make people THINK that they’re saving the planet.
Somewhere in what you said there is a plot to a great novel. Symbolism over substance is the lifeblood of liberalism.
Liberals are just too lazy to push the pedals on a regular bike...
Liberals are too lazy to push pedals on a regular bike...
Insane and lazy.
The obvious fix is to install supplemental wind turbines.
And this is happening in the summer time. In the winter, many places in NYC get no sun light at all...
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